LITTLE ROCK (AP) — The Arkansas Supreme Court has upheld the life without parole sentence of a convicted killer who was 17 at the time of the crime.

The court issued its ruling in the case of Lemuel Whiteside on Thursday.

The now 20-year-old Whiteside was 17 when he was implicated in the 2009 death of James London. He was later convicted of capital murder.

Defense attorney Tom Sullivan had argued that Whiteside should not have been sentenced to life in prison without parole because he didn't kill or intend to kill London.

The Supreme Court — however — agreed with an attorney for the state who said state law carries an automatic sentence of life without parole for a capital murder conviction and asked that Whiteside's conviction and sentence be upheld.